I kind of echo Puffymuffin's thoughts on this. People are trying to make this all about doping, but it isn't. Armstrong used his high moral standing to crush the lives of so many people. He was brutal....sending threats, getting other bicyclists railroaded out of the sport, throwing teams of lawyers at witnesses, etc. At the end of the day, Armstrong is an ugly person with no moral compass. And that has NOTHING to do with doping.

Tomas wrote:I would even understand the lying, even though the grandstanding (tweeting himself with 7 TDF yellow jerseys) is rather tasteless.

I thought that was hilarious

Tomas wrote:Where Armstrong loses completely my support is the fact that over the years, despite the fact that he doped like there was no tomorrow, he himself as well as his possy tried to destroy lives and livelihoods of people who disclosed any info about Armstrong's doping - or even just testified against his doctor. I honestly think some of his behavior was criminal (this interview with Betsy Andreu describes some of those instances: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/i-tea ... -1.1238932). Just for what he did to those people, he deserves a massive kick in the ball.

This whole charade has nothing to do with making amends with those he ran into the ditch for the last 10 years. That's the most pathetic part of this. He's broke and/or wants to be reinstated to compete again.

Last month, Lance Armstrong boarded a plane for Denver to do something several of his lawyers had advised against: sitting down for a private conversation with the head of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency.

Travis Tygart had given the star cyclist no reason to believe that USADA would soften the lifetime ban from elite competition for what the agency called the "most sophisticated doping program on the planet." But Mr. Armstrong hoped he could change that.At the meeting near the Denver airport, Mr. Armstrong talked openly about doping, arguing that cheating was rampant in all pro sports, including the National Football League, according to someone familiar with the meeting. He complained that he was being singled out for punishment. As the discussion wound down without Mr. Tygart budging, the seven-time Tour de France winner seemed ready to walk out.

"You don't hold the keys to my redemption," he said, according to the person familiar with the meeting. "There's one person who holds the keys to my redemption," he went on, pointing at himself, "and that's me."

King Sid the Great 87 wrote:This whole charade has nothing to do with making amends with those he ran into the ditch for the last 10 years. That's the most pathetic part of this. He's broke and/or wants to be reinstated to compete again.

Last month, Lance Armstrong boarded a plane for Denver to do something several of his lawyers had advised against: sitting down for a private conversation with the head of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency.

Travis Tygart had given the star cyclist no reason to believe that USADA would soften the lifetime ban from elite competition for what the agency called the "most sophisticated doping program on the planet." But Mr. Armstrong hoped he could change that.At the meeting near the Denver airport, Mr. Armstrong talked openly about doping, arguing that cheating was rampant in all pro sports, including the National Football League, according to someone familiar with the meeting. He complained that he was being singled out for punishment. As the discussion wound down without Mr. Tygart budging, the seven-time Tour de France winner seemed ready to walk out.

"You don't hold the keys to my redemption," he said, according to the person familiar with the meeting. "There's one person who holds the keys to my redemption," he went on, pointing at himself, "and that's me."

I think this sums it up a little better:

When Mr. Armstrong told Mr. Tygart that he held the keys to his own redemption, said one person with knowledge of the meeting, Mr. Tygart responded: "That's b—." He told Mr. Armstrong that all he wanted to do was figure out a way to compete again.

Mr. Armstrong shot back that he would compete in unsanctioned races, hurled a profanity, and walked out.

Reminds me of the scene in half baked where the one guy quits his fast food job.

shafnutz05 wrote:I kind of echo Puffymuffin's thoughts on this. People are trying to make this all about doping, but it isn't. Armstrong used his high moral standing to crush the lives of so many people. He was brutal....sending threats, getting other bicyclists railroaded out of the sport, throwing teams of lawyers at witnesses, etc. At the end of the day, Armstrong is an ugly person with no moral compass. And that has NOTHING to do with doping.

agree completely shad.

lets put it this way: If a CEO of a corporation perpetuated a fraud and behaved like Lance Armstrong has behaved and was paid like Armstrong has been paid, the CEO would be strung up by politications and thrown in jail. It has nothing to do with doping, it has everything to do with his behavior. He has raked his detractors through the mud for more than a decade, and he beligerently flaunted his supposed innocence and made millions as a result.

And yes its nice that the livestrong foundation has raised millions of dollars but that does not justify the way that acted. Bernie Madoff, Ken Lay, Jeff Skilling, and hell, even Jerry Sandusky and so on and so forth, have donated lots of money and help lots of people. That does not justify their actions.

Livestrong was founded to educate on health, and raise funds for cancer patients and survivors. They have done that with no fraud, no "misallocation" of funds, and in general have been a good organization. Lance's TDF victories are a different animal. I try not to associate him with Livestrong, even though he founded it/whatever. I don't think it's going to hurt their organization's reputation when the interview airs on Thursday, but time will tell.

Not sure how I feel about this, while part of me admires this guy, another part of me says he is a sap. I mean, I think a valid argument can be made that this, and all sports, have more than just a physical element to it. Yes, he was the second best runner in the race, however, the first place runner wasn’t staying sharp mentally, and frankly that’s part of the battle. After running for so long the hard part may be to stay focused to the end, apparently he didn’t.

I think that is pretty crappy too. I don't really have a problem with his career either, because I don't follow cycling. I couldn't name a single other cyclist, so its not something that is important to me that is being tarnished. If it was proven that Crosby was using performance enhancers to whine better than anyone else, and that was why the Pens won the cup and why the US lost gold, then I'd be pretty upset though, because I do care about hockey.